The Bulls have found all manner of ways to lose road games this season. Blowouts, close losses, poor perimeter defense and turnovers have highlighted their struggles. This time, the killer was second-half turnovers. USF committed 11 of its 19 in the second half, leading to 15 of 54 Seton Hall points.

For most of the game, the Bulls' athletic big men caused matchup problems for the smaller Pirates. Kentrell Gransberry and Mattis were able to use their strength and speed to get to the rim and offensive glass for easy baskets. At the half, USF held a 37-35 lead.

Gransberry scored 11 of his 19 in the second half to allow USF to maintain its slim lead while Seton Hall's guards kept attacking.

But after Gransberry committed his fourth foul with 9:57 left, the Pirates repeatedly attacked the rim for layups and fouls and much like they've done all season, and USF could not hold off its hard-charging opponent.

Forwards Stan Gaines and Laing and Nutter sparked a 25-11 run with their outside shooting. That saw the Pirates go from being down 57-49 to enjoying a 74-68 lead.

"I thought we broke down a lot" in the second half, Mattis said. "(We played) horrible transition defense."

The punctuation on Seton Hall's second-half dominance was a Laing alley-oop dunk off an inbounds play with 1:15 left.

"Turnovers have plagued us all year; 26 points off of turnovers tell the story there."

The Pirates kept their slim Big East tournament hopes alive. Seton Hall needs to win its remaining games and hope St. John's loses all its games. The Bulls were eliminated from postseason contention last week.